It is, Sir Alan Bates insists, all the fault of the King.
Since the Post Office campaigner was given a knighthood in the King’s birthday honours list in June, nobody knew how to address his partner, Suzanne Sercombe.
After 34 years together — 20 of which Bates has spent campaigning for justice for the victims of the Horizon IT scandal — they had never got round to getting married.
“Ever since I’ve had this knighthood, people haven’t been sure how to address Suzanne. Even I wasn’t sure,” said Bates, who was played by Toby Jones in the hit ITV series Mr Bates vs the Post Office.
“I thought, ‘It’s only fair. It’s time to resolve that.’ Personally, I blame the King. It’s been 34 years